This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for extracting roe from fish.
The herring roe fishery is particularly lucrative since there is a large Japanese market for the herring roe which is used in the preparation of kazunoko, a Japanese delicacy. After the herring are caught, they are soaked in brine to firm up the roe. To remove the roe, workers physically grasp the head and tail of the fish and twist and pull them apart to tear the fish and expose the roe so it can be extracted. Exposing the roe is the difficult part; once the roe is exposed, it is relatively easy to extract.
Prior art roe extractors are available which comprise two circular knifes which make a V-shaped cut and cut the head off the herring. These machines are adaptations of herring filleting machines and have not been very effective or widely accepted.